Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 30 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth)

I really like Victron Energy SmartSolar MPPT 100V 30 amp 12/24-Volt Solar Charge Controller (Bluetooth). It really is doing everything for me. AAAAA+++++

I really expected to like the Victron Smart Solar. I already own the 100/15 Blue Solar plus bluetooth dongle, and have good results with it. However, after struggling with the Smart Solar I was disappointed and returned it. In my view its a step backward from Blue Solar. If youre thinking of buying the 75/15 Smart Solar, you may want to reconsider and get the 75/15 Blue Solar and buy the external bluetooth dongle. There is really no benefit to the Smart Solar over the Blue Solar + BT dongle. You might save $10-$20, but you end up with an inferior product in many other respects. First, the integrated bluetooth range is much less than the BT dongle. Were talking 5 feet vs. 20 to 30. This also gets to the heart of my main gripe: Victrons choice of Bluetooth transceiver. Theyre using newer BLuetooth Low Energy technology (BLE) vs older but more widely supported BT 4.0, as used in the external dongle. In my view it wasnt a good move. BLE, is not supported by the majority of BT enabled devices. If you want to use iOS or Android, be aware that even if they have BT, they will likely NOT work with the Smart Solar bluetooth! Obviously this isnt a good selling point and Victron sales literature doesnt warn customers about this ahead of time. Youll end up downloading their app and get frustrated trying to connect to the controller, and eventually learn that your 1 year old device wont work with it. Nearly every device in the world with BT will work with BT 4.0, but Victron went with the BT low energy and gave up compatibility with the majority of the worlds devices. Was that a smart decision? Well they saved a few cents per controller, and I suppose low energy in theory saves some power. But, the charge controller is NOT lacking for power. Its either getting power from a PV array or a presumably large battery, not a tiny batteries where BLE might be useful. I would much rather have 20-30 foot range and use a few more micro watts of power than need to stand 5 feet from the controller. And youll find with Android, that BLE *requires* that you enable location/GPS for the Victron Connect app to work! No kidding. Victron says they dont care about your location, and probably dont. But youll need to accept that and enable location services to use their app with Smart Solar. With Blue Solar and the external dongle its not necessary. This is forced on everyone by Google/Android not Victron, but again, the choice of using BLE was Victrons. Finally, IMO the 100/15 is better constructed than the 75/15, albeit at a higher price. The 100/15 has an external heat sink and the 75/15 does not. That could be a benefit in a hot environment like the desert. You may want to take a look at it. The next step up is 100/20 which also has an external heat sink like the 100/15. All of these have separate load terminals which is really useful because the controllers have a configurable low voltage disconnect (via the app) and can also track how much power the load is actually using. When you get over 20 amps, for example 100/30 amp controllers and up, they do not have separate load terminals. Update: I measured the current draw of a Blue Solar 100/15 and Smart Solar 100/20. Connected to battery at 12.8v. No PV or load connected, and not connected to app via BT. Blue Solar 100/15: 24 mA. With BT dongle 25.5-26 mA Smart Solar 100/20: 34 mA. With BT dongle 35-36.5 mA I dont have numbers for the 75/15, though its likely not more than above. The point is, the BT 4.x dongle takes only 1 to 1.5 mA. Unless youre using a 15 amp MPPT controller with a battery bank the size of a coin cell battery, the BT dongle is the way to go (IMO).

Not much to say. It works as advertised is is very high quality. Well worth the money. I will be buying more Victron products.

Works better than I expected to it does exactly what it says and it works perfect for a battle born battery no problems with it very happy purchase Having built-in Bluetooth helps a lot if you dont have to buy the extra dongle for communication I really like the fact that its customizable you can set the parameters that you would like for your setup which is extremely helpful For whatever reason it seems to produce a little bit more voltage and current then I would expect it to thats probably what its designed to do but its a major Plus to me

I love the Victron SmartSolar charge controller. Weve had 2 of these and just ordered a 150|100 unit for our 1200W expansion on our new RV. These are simple, operate via bluetooth so I dont have to cut any holes and mount a monitor anywhere. It would be cool if I could see the stats via wi-fi, but honestly I dont care to pay for that feature, and bluetooth is more than enough. Its easy to mount, the app is stupid-proof to set up and use, and my only complaint would be that the wires get a little too close to each other for my own comfort while wiring them up. Otherwise, this is the top of the line for charge controllers, and youll certainly pay for it. Just cry, get it over with, and enjoy your purchase.

I was using an EPEVER MPPT solar charge controller with similar specifications. OMG this controller is SO MUCH BETTER at calculating the maximum power point! In the last 5 days, Ive already generated HALF of what I generated with the EPEVER, which I had and used for 2 full months! Even in similar cloudy conditions I am generating so much more power! The built in Bluetooth function is super easy to set up. I used my android to configure it. I had it up and running in no joke, 5 minutes! I will CERTAINLY be buying more products from Victron!!

First ten days of use were cloudy and rainy. Power from 200 watt panel was efficiently stored in 200 ah lipo battery pack.

Wish it came with an included readout giving battery state of charge etc.

Excellent quality construction is evident. I found it very easy to set up and operate the app. I can sit in my RV and get good bluetooth reception from the unit which is located outside near the fron of my RV. It pulls in power and sends it to my lithium battery even during overcast.

The Victron 100 20 MPPT controller delivers peformance as effortlessly and efficiently as it delivers energy. This unit was connected to two 105 A-hr lead acid deep cycle batteries for storage, two 120 W Photovoltaic panels for energy capture, powering a load composed of a Dometic 95DZ dual zone fridge freezer. For the test a grocery load was simulated with two 1 gallon jugs of tap water and two ice cube trays of water to make ice. The test was begun late in afternoon on Saturday and concluded early evening on Sunday. The Victron supplied energy throughout the entire process and smoothley and effortlessly transitioned from solar power to battery. As the sun came up I was able to monitor panel voltage in real time, and began to see it slowly offset battery power, until the batteries began to charge and all power for the Dometic was supplied by panels. The test was a complete success and demonstrated to me the need to expand the system by one battery and one pannel to 345 A-hr, and 360 W solar. The Victron did extremely well and was only slightly warm at highest load condition. Thank you!